


Once a Year

by catherinearbour



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Complete, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 10:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15094517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catherinearbour/pseuds/catherinearbour
Summary: Noctis has one tradition that he commits to every year, once a year.





	Once a Year

**Author's Note:**

> For the FFXV & Chill one-year anniversary competition.

Insomnia, despite its name, did sleep. Its slow descent into slumber is marked by lowered lights and quiet streets. Inside the palace, the guards change shifts and doors close. When silence is all he can hear, the young prince sits up in his large bed and slowly pulls himself to the edge. He hops down carefully, doing everything to not make any sound. When no one appears at the door after a few moments, he putters to the large window and pulls himself up onto the sill. Bundling himself in the blanket folded there, Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum stares out as the stars slowly overtake the night in the wake of the decreasing city lights.

  
It’s the same thing every year. He stays up and watches the sky darken, and then he sings. His voice is always quiet, barely above a breath, but it fills his room until he falls asleep.

  
***

  
The frown on Noctis’ face as they leave the Crown City behind isn’t for the reasons his companions assume. He isn’t homesick, he isn’t nervous. Instead his mind’s mental calendar is reminding him of that anniversary. That one date would come while they were on the road – weren’t they supposed to be there by then? – and the prince is sure that his companions won’t give him the space he needs.

  
At the behest of Cindy and her grand-father, the quartet find themselves hunting to make ends meet and fix their broken vehicle. And it’s during one of those long days that Noctis’ private anniversary comes around. The haven they come across shortly after their lights blink on automatically turns into their temporary home. As each of the soon-to-be-King’s aides slowly crawl into the tent for a good night’s sleep, the prince remains in his chair, eyes fixated on the twinkling lights above. He’s not really aware that the others are not quite asleep yet, but he is aware of the silence that the haven seems to give off. It’s a comfortable feeling, one unmarred by the daemons that he knows are lurking in the shadows beyond the line of trees.

  
He can feel himself falling asleep as he opens his mouth. The lyrics tumble quietly into the night, but Noctis isn’t alone in his wakefulness. Within the tent, the other three stir enough to awaken, but they don’t move. They simply listen… and wonder.

  
~

  
The following day, Noctis’ eyes open to see the roof of the tent. The groan he suppresses is missed by the other three, but the expressions they wear as he steps out and stretches are telltale. Any hopes he’d held of them keeping their questions to themselves are short lived as Gladiolus pulls the half-asleep prince into a friendly headlock.

  
“So, what was _that_ all about?”

  
Feigning ignorance, Noctis stifles a yawn before replying, “What was _what_ all about?”

  
“You spent most of yesterday evening singing yourself to sleep. We had to send Gladiolus out to fetch you. It wouldn't do well for the groom to be sick on his big day,” Ignis filled in, never one to beat around the bush.

  
“I wasn't gonna get sick!”

  
“Coulda fooled us, Noct,” he hears from somewhere above his head. “You fell asleep out there.”

  
“We have pictures to prove it,” Prompto chimes in, waving the camera in Noctis’ line of sight.

  
He can’t reach for it, not in the death grip. By the time Noctis succeeds in pushing his Shield off, he thinks he’s wasted enough precious daylight to warrant skipping the conversation. When he looks up, he finds himself being stared at by all three of them. So much for a change of conversation.

  
“Look, it's… it's just a tradition Luna came up with to help me feel less lonely,” he says, rubbing the back of his head. “She said… she said that if I promised to sing that every year on the day we were supposed to get married, that she would too. That way we'd be close, even if we weren't.“

  
“Didn't think you the romantic, Noct,” Gladiolus says as he closes the distance, pulling Noctis into another headlock that leaves the prince’s dark hair at the mercy of the Shield’s much bigger hands.

  
 “I'm no- hey! Come on, lay off it! I said it wasn't my idea.”

  
“You go along with it.”

  
“Yeah, well it was _supposed_ to be a secret,” he retorts, sounding more and more like the huffy prince they knew so well.

  
“It's safe with us bro,” Prompto says.

  
“At least until you're officially wed,” the spectacled cook adds, his voice conspiratory.

  
“ _Ignis!_ ”

  
***

  
It takes them a lot longer to reach Altissia than Noctis assumed it would. The boat ride is not unpleasant, but all he wants is to be done. The faster they reached the watery city, the faster they could return home and reclaim Insomnia. Noctis would never admit it out loud, but he felt like a failure. His father – like so many others it seemed – had trusted the future to him. How many times now had he failed? He watched the deep blue hues of the ocean lighten as they approached city, vowing to never let someone down again.

  
However, the hope Noctis holds as he witnesses Altissia in all its splendor is as short lived as his yearly secret…

  
~

  
When Noctis awakens one morning, the ceiling feels only somewhat unfamiliar. The Leville, he supposes. Sitting up results in a splitting headache that brings with it vague memories of the previous few days. Spotting a familiar face sitting on the end of his bed Noctis reaches out, only to pause.

  
Ignis doesn’t need to say much for Noctis to understand the source of his headache or the pain in his chest. When the other asks the inevitable ‘what now?’ the prince doesn’t even have to think. They would keep going, no matter what. They owed at least that much to so many people. The others don’t feel inclined to share his optimism, but the prince’s determination is, unlike his laugh, much more solid. He tells them to be ready to leave the next day, his tone dismissive.

  
They can’t blame him. He was supposed to get married today, not grieve.

  
Noctis curls up on the large bed, bringing his knees up to his chest as he presses his forehead against his legs. He sings, of course, but the words are small and quiet, eventually breaking down into sobs that he hopes no one else can hear. There wasn’t anyone singing elsewhere this time. He was well and truly alone in that moment.

  
***

  
Finding the crystal brings little comfort to the prince. He knows, of course, that everything he’s worked for is now within his reach… so why? Why did he feel like he was just going to go through more grief?

  
Before he can puzzle out his emotions, he’s asking the light to banish the daemons. The response – to be pulled into the crystal – isn’t at all what he expects it to be. There were no easy choices in this journey, and his thoughts of it finally being at an end die as the light engulfs him.  
The floating feeling persists, even when the light has waxed full. Despite how long it’s been, Noctis knows the exact date. Keeping time in a realm of infinites was no easy feat, but the prince felt each day in the depths of his soul. One day, even among all the memories of camping, still stands out to him.

  
Ten long years of preparation were interrupted ten times, each by the same song.

  
***

  
Then, it’s over. Noctis faces his destiny, faces his fear of failure made flesh and feels only a twinge of grief. Not for himself, but for those he’s leaving behind.

_  
Prompto… Gladio… Ignis… Walk tall, my friends._

  
His own words echo back to him and he smiles despite himself. In that regard, he has no regrets.

  
Sitting there on his throne, as though waiting for him, is a photo. The prince, surrounded by his three most trusted companions, in front of the car that carried them through it all. The photo is old by Prompto’s standards, but it was one of his favourites, taken shortly after the car was fixed in Hammerhead. The beginning of a long end.

  
He passes it across to the woman on his right, his bittersweet smile shifting into a much warmer one. This moment, small and insignificant to most, meant everything to him. They were together, finally, despite the hurdles and the issues that had yet to happen when the glossy moment was captured. He indulges her questions and curiosities as he slips off his gloves, interrupting her only to brush a hand along her cheek and to let her kiss him.

  
They hold each other’s gaze for a long moment, though any moment feels like eternity to him and he’s okay with that. Then, with his head in her hands Luna presses her forehead to his and he hears it. It’s the ghost of a whisper, of memories and of promises. “ _Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight~_ ”

  
The smile doesn’t grow, but he can feel his heart swell as he follows her lead. “ _Someone’s thinking of me~_ ”

  
“ _And loving me tonight~_ ” they finish the first verse in harmony, and Noctis watches as Luna lays her arms on the armrest and lays her head upon them. He runs his hand through her hair one last time before propping his elbow alongside her resting his cheek on his hand.

  
The duet continues as the pair fall asleep, and for once Noctis knows that he will finally rest well.

 

Fin.


End file.
